Gentle Giants and Not-so-evil Tricksters
by HalosandHeroes
Summary: Jess meets a trickster that goes against everything she's learned. Reverse!Verse, Fem!Cas, Hunter!Jess, Trickster!Sam, No Slash.
1. Progue

**Just a random idea I've been playing with. Might or might not continue…**

 **I'm a broke-ass junior in college; I don't own sh*t.**

.

Jess rose an unimpressed eyebrow at the two man-babies sprawled out in the motel room before her - well, _wo_ man-baby in Cassie's case. Gabe was eating that weird scandinavian candy he liked; the one Cas would complain about constantly and secretly burry in her adopted dad's junk yard when nobody was looking her way. His little sister, meanwhile, was blaring some version of Ode to Joy, thick tome securely propped in her lap. The room's tension was more palpable than Chuck's fear when Bobby chased him off with a shotgun twelve years ago.

"Alright, chuckle heads; I drove all the way from a kelpie up in Maine, so this better be good." She knew she sounded calloused, but she blamed her upbringing and the loss of the love of her life. Besides, Cassie and Gabe both needed a good slap to the face from the looks of things.

"Thanks for coming," Cas sighed, shooting one of the only other women she could confide in a grateful smile. "I'm getting a little tired of all the testosterone and ah… _down stairs_ brains."

Gabe snorted, rolled onto his side, and eyed the blonde hunter in dull amusement. "My sympathies for having to deal first with Matt and now with my hormonal baby sister. _I think she's on her period._ " He winked and Cassie scoffed while chucking her pillow at him.

Jess slumped into an open chair and rubbed her face tiredly. "Look, I hauled ass all the way here, so I want a cold beer - not that sugary shit Mr. Diabetes likes - and I want the whole story… You _do_ know what it is, right? Bobby just called and say you two needed help ASAP."

The siblings looked at eachother sheepishly.

"No. We've been too busy bickering to pin it down any further than 'not ghost'," Gabe told her, cowed by Jess' intimidating gaze. Damn, was Bobby teaching her _all_ his tricks?

Cassie pressed a cold beer into her hands, which Jess quickly popped open and chugged half of. After pulling her hair into a messy bun and finishing off a bag of jelly beans Gabe had left sprawled on the table, she looked expectantly at the Shirley's. "You numbskulls ever thought the thing _might_ be _trying_ to keep you distracted with petty arguments?"

"Slashing Gladys's tires is _not_ a petty argument," Cassie harrumphed, shooting baggers at her older brother.

"Relax, Man Coat, I didn't touch the pimpmobile," Gabe said with an eyeroll, tossing his empty candy bag just short of the trash to purposely bother his sister. "What _I_ wanna know is where you put my Turisas CD."

The dark-haired woman went red in the face. "What make you think I touched your Finnish Euro Metal. I can barely _stand_ new music, let alone something as grating as an electric violin."

Gabe scrambled across his bed and flopped onto his sister's - right in her startled face. A finger was aggressively waggled in her face. "You take that back! Battle Metal is the best thing on this planet besides Sabaton's viking songs."

She shoved her heavy brother off of her, Jess completely forgotten in the background. "At least Sabaton has interesting lyric - all Turisas does is wail and shred and make my ear _bleed_! And don't even get me _started_ on that stupid Rasputin song-"

"Guys! Cut it out; we have a hunt to solve here, and bickering isn't going to solve a thing." Jess was fed up with all the petty sibling fighting. "Story. Now."

And so they told her everything: the suicide-by-ghost professor, the… _probed_ frat boy, and the sewer gator's midnight snack. Their entire story was filled with descriptions and summaries meant to get on the other Shirley's nerves, which only further cemented Jess' conclusion.

She stretched her kinked back with one of the best pops she'd ever heard and rose to her feet so she could stare down the shorter hunters, frustrated glare firmly in place. "Sounds like you found a trickster - and promptly fell for one of it's tricks. The damn things love mischief like nothing else, and have a sick sense of justice when it comes to the high and mighty. Explains why you two have been at each other's throats all week."

Gabe and Cas looked at their respective sibling with wide eyes, realising that they had been total assbutts for no apparent reason. Could someone pit them against each other so easily? All the trickster had done was mess with Gladys, freeze and steal a laptop, and hid away Gabe's extensive collection of euro metal. Where they really that hot-headed?

Cassie's big blue eyes welled up with unshed tears as she guiltily looked at her older brother. "I-I'm sorry, Gabriel. I shouldn't have jumped the gun on you."

Gabe ruffled her wild, messy hair, kind smile planted on his face. "S'okay, lil sis; you're not the only one to blame."

"Right!" Jess said with false cheeriness. "You mentioned the janitor was at ground zero for all the incidents - sounds like a good place to start. You two idiots have to run distraction while I snoop around his things."

"You're starting to sound like a stalker," Gabe commented, shit-eating grin firmly place. He was quick to apologize, however, when Jess raised a threatening fist in his general direction.

Cassie rolled her eyes, pulling her brother to his feet and shoving him towards the bright green door. Now wasn't the time for jokes; they had a hunt.

.

"What are you looking for?"

Hazel doe eyes and an innocent smile peered at her as Jess valiantly tried to open the janitor's locker. He was tall - so _friggin' tall_ \- and chiseled, but not muscle-bound like most meatheads tended to be, with shaggy brown hair and this _gleam_.

Oh yeah. He's trouble alright.

"I'm John. Why ya tryin' to get in my coworker's locker?" He was just so friggin' _adorable_.

"Ass hole took my sister's spare set of keys on his last visit and she doesn't want to pay to change the locks - not that I blame her. Everyone has a right to privacy." Not a bad story for being made up on the spot.

"Oh. Well, I know Dean's combination, if you'd like."

She nodded, flashing the janitor a grateful smile. He reminded her of Brady, before - No. Now's not the time to be thinking about _him_. Besides, she had a cute college kid who was most likely working to pay tuition falling all over himself to help her. She _definitely_ wasn't complaining about the last part.

John's grin could light up a room as he swiftly moved forward to enter in the trickster's combination. "Kudos to you for trying to make things right; sometimes you have to do what you think is right a damn the consequences, ya know? Like, if we didn't take things into our own hands, things would never be set right."

Jess was a little weirded out, seeing as that was the major reason she got into hunting and dropped college, much to her parents' dismay. She was actually quite happy to see she had found another kindred spirit - and a cute one at that.

The locker opened with a slight whine by a pleased-looking John.

"Thanks," she told him, hand resting lightly on his broad shoulder as she peeked inside. John blushed out of the corner of her eye, happy little smile playing across his face.

"No prob… Hey, I never caught you name."

"Jessica Moore."

"John Wesson." He winced and sighed embarrassedly. "But I already told you that."

He was just so adorable that she couldn't stop the awkward side-hug she gave the tall janitor, which was returned shortly after. But really, it didn't feel strange in the slightest; it felt _right_ and _perfect_ and like finally coming home for the first time in ages. Jess didn't ever want to separated, but she had a trickster to hunt, so she reluctantly let go with a odd little cough. John looked disappointed, but quickly covered it up, thrusting out his hand for a shake.

"Until next time, Jess."

Something light and happy tingled through her when they connected, but Jess played it off as overactive hormones. After all, John was just some random janitor that she decided looked enough like a puppy to warrant a quick hug… right? He pulled her in close so his magic, sincere eye could lay her bare.

"Look out for yourself and your sister, yeah? Don't lose that heart and conscience, either. You don't know how important it will be in the coming times."

She nodded, stunned, and let the strange man slip from the room, allowing her continue the search for Trickster evidence in 'Dean's' locker.

.

It was until after the trickster tried to bargain with them, kill them, and ended up a bloody sack of flesh with minty eyes staring dead ahead that Jess thought back to the mysterious encounter of John Wesson. She smiled lazily was the luke-warm water spat down on her, rubbing her wrist where his feather-light fingers grazed skin in their hand shake. What surprised the hunter, however, was the intricate scrawl of bronzy lines that formed a looping _L_ on her inner wrist, shining like fire when the light caught it.

Jess snorted, but could bring herself to be mad that Loki had posed as some gentle giant and left his sigil upon her. The honest, caring look 'John' held couldn't be faked by the best actor out there - he was pure in a refreshing and exhilarating way. And if she hoped deep, _deep_ , down that Loki escaped somehow?

Well, Jess would've punched whoever suggested that before softly rubbing at the leather cuff she used to hide that elegant mark an honest, sweet guy gave her while helping her hunt himself down.


	2. Psalm 119:114

_**You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word. ~Psalm 119:114 NIV**_

* * *

The first time Sam Winchester darkened Bobby's doorstep, Jess knew she recognized his wounded puppy look from somewhere. It was swept, however, to the back of her mind when the sweetest, dimpled smile he had ever seen showed itself.

"H-hi. Is Bobby around? I called a few days ago about a lore book he said I could sneak a peek at, Ms…"

His uncertainty was adorable and only furthered her resolve to wrap the man in bubble wrap indefinitely. Jess didn't think her father or the giant before her would appreciate it, and so contented herself to usher Sam in and run the normal tests on him. If he smirked slightly at their holy water tradition, well, Bobby didn't need to know _everything_.

"I'm Jess," she stated after he was cleared. "I think Bobby's out back, tinkering with one of his old cars again."

He nodded, grateful, and scurried off in the vague direction she had flopped her arm in to signal the yard. She decided not to question how it was possible for a man of Winchester's size to look like a cowed mouse.

Bobby chuckled lowly, wiping the grease off his hands, as he pulled himself from under an old, half-crushed Impala. His eyes twinkled as they fell on Sam's broad frame. "So the Shotgun Preacher finally comes a-knockin' for my help. I take it Jim didn't have the answers you were looking for."

Jess squinted at their guest, surprised. Pastor Jim had almost been killed by some higher-up demon a few months ago, only to be saved by a man she only knew by the alias Shotgun Preacher. Said hunter was definitely not what she'd imagined.

"No. While extensive, the pastor's collection didn't hold the lore I need. He said you might - uh, do you still have that fourteenth century Catholic tome? The one with the mass exorcism?"

Bobby scratched at his bread, mentally thinking through his library. "If I do, it'll be buried somewhere in my study."

The mental groan was loud and clear as Sam's shoulders sagged a little. She _knew_ she was done for when he pointed those little puppy eyes in her direction. "Jess? Would ya mind helping me find it? There's a school of possessed children up in Montana that need my help asap."

She told herself it was for those kids, but a nasty little voice inside whispered she was being entirely selfish and only agreed so she could spend a little more time with the gentle hunter. There was just something about him - like a magnet drawing her ever closer to that sweet, sweet smile.

A careless gesture had Winchester pawing through a precarious stack of tomes leaned against her father's desk like dusty, blocky vines. Satisfied, Jess settled about the shelves, crooning lowly to the old blues Bobby was piping through speakers outside. And if she felt all warm and fuzzy when the other hunter added his deeper voice to the mix? Well, she alway did have a thing for harmony.

Jess rubbed the leather cuff over the looping _L_ absently and titles swam like leaves on water before her eyes. _The Bestiary of Sir Grimsly, The Occult of the New World, Demons of the Night…_ She resisted the urge to groan. Why did they have so many damn books?!

There was a loud thump and triumphant crow off to her left. "Found it! _The Cardinal of Canterbury's Exorcisms._ "

There was no way in Heaven, Hell, or on Earth that Jess giggled and blushed when hazel eye and flopped hair peaked over the desk at her. Nope. None at all. And _definitely_ no way she felt the need to snuggle into him when a bright smile crept on top his face.

"Hey Sam," she started impulsively, "it's kinda late… Would you like to stay for dinner before you split?"

.

"So," Bobby grunted while passing the beans to Sam. "What have you been up to, boy? Last I heard, you were overseas with Caleb and Doc, takin' care a some sea monster."

Sam opted out of the beans, instead piling a generous amount of the store-bought salad onto his paper plate. He shrugged. "Not much; an exorcism here, pagan god there… Oh! And I've been helping a hunter with some research on the hair-brained chance it will get her older brother out of _Hell_ , of all places."

Jess set down her fork, eyes wide. "Cassie Novak?"

Sam dipped his head in a agreement, a little, unhappy frown maring his usually cheery face. "That's the one. She's an odd girl, but _nobody_ deserves that kind of heartbreak. To have your father die for your brother only for him to turn around and waste that second chance on you. I can't imagine."

Jess nodded, seeing the events in a light she hadn't before. Perhaps it explained part of the reason Cassie was so desperate. "Have you found anything?" she asked softly.

A sigh escaped his lips as he slumped into the dining chair. "Honestly, nothing short of a Godsend could pull the little shit outta the hot box. _Fat chance on that one._ "

"Oh?" Bobby suddenly perked at the muttered sentence tack on the end of Sam's reply. (When did Winchester become _Sam_?)

Sam looked at the older hunter with old, painfilled nostalgia. "There hasn't been a confirmed sighting of an angel - the Godsend the Novaks need - since Jesus ascended into Heaven two thousand years ago."

"You said _confirmed_." Her eyes narrowed.

"Smart, your daughter, Bobby. Yeah… There's been reported healings and freak things that save lives every once and awhile, but if an angel is doin' 'em, they ain't steppin' up for the credit."

"... so there's hope?" Jess missed the the asshole of an older Novak and was worried immensely for Cassie's health - especially with that creep she'd been hanging with lately.

She shivered and the heavy wieght of power and _giddiness_ that overcame her when Sam looked her straight in the eyes, speaking solemnly. "There's always hope, Ms. Moore, we just have to be strong enough to see it."

.

She pulled the gun from her overly large coat, tense, when the flickering motel lights revealed a cheery-looking guy and Ryan stuck in a Devil's trap. Mystery Man didn't even bother reaching for the gun she could clearly see the could line of.

"How the hell are you?" she hissed.

"Not quite, sweets. I'm a friend of Sam's - he said you were looking to save your brother. Well, I might just have a way."

"Gotta name, 'Sam's friend'?" _Don't react, don't react, don't react._

"Adam. Just Adam. Take a seat, Cassie; you an' me an' Rye-rye are gonna have a nice little talk an' see what we can figure out."

Cassie looked into his honest, blue eyes and found her boody promptly placed on the edge of the bed, eager for any help she could get in her quest to save Gabriel from his undeserving fate. 'Cause fuck anybody who tries to stop her.


	3. Psalm 94:19

_**When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy. ~Psalm 94:19**_

Adam smiled tightly at her compliance, pulling a drum stick from a thing of fried chicken Cassie could've _sworn_ wasn't here two seconds ago. "So!" he started brightly through his food, "I'm a… hunter scholar, I guess you could call it. Go 'round finding obscure knowledge to ply hunters with. That's actually how I met the Shotgun Preacher - ya know, back when he was some lost little reverend tryin' to figure out what possessed one of his brothers and killed his other."

He winced. "Sorry, getting off topic. Well, a few months ago I was helping Sam dig up some of the more obscure lore on the Kokopellis of the south west. We got to talkin' and he said to hit you up if I ever got a lead and well…" He made an encompassing gesture as if it totally legitimized breaking into Cassie's motel room and trapping her only other hope.

Speaking of which…

"She doesn't want to deal with a filthy pagan like you!" Ryan hissed, eyes flashing.

Adam donned a faux-affronted look. "Moi?! I never! Get over yourself, butter cup. At least when I die I'm goin' to Valhalla. Where do you end up - oh wait… never mind." His gaze shifted back to Cassie. "You should really ditch the fleabag; you're _way_ outta his league. 'Sides, you got me to help now. No need to go gallivanting off with the wako!"

Cassie tilted her head, as if in deep thought. "Why? He's been a friend when I needed one the most. I tend not to abandon people important to me."

"Yeah!" Ryan got Adam's - now clean - chicken bone to the face for opening his mouth. The demon whined pathetically, in his humble opinion.

Cassie decided it was time to get this crazy train back on the tracks. "You said you know how to save my brother?"

Adam grinned, a little sharply. "Angels."

"Pardon?"

"Found an angel summoning spell that looks pretty legit. Do it, concivince whoever shows up to save brother dearest, and _bam_! It's a done deal. Next week is ideal; Sunday's already passed and gone."

"Why not tomorrow?" she asked innocently. Seriously, what's wrong with summoning an angel on a Friday instead?

Ryan's eyes widened and Adam shook his head sadly. "No dice, kiddo; the angel of Friday can be a stubborn piece of shit unless he's doing something to help somebody that he actually _likes._ They'll all feel a hell of a a lot more benevolent on the day of rest."

"So Sunday?" she asked weakly. Adam smiled warmly and nodded once.

"I'll swing by tomorrow with the passage and the crap you'll need for it." He stood, dusting his greasy fingers on faded jeans. "I'm gonna make my exit. But seriously, Cas? Lose your creepy boy toy before it comes back to haunt you. 'Cause mark my words, it will."

Cassie valiantly tried to hide the shiver that ran through her at Adam's dark omen. Ryan's familiar scoff and eye roll, though, soothed her frazzled nerves like Gabriel's annoying humming did. So she nodded in a dazed manner, not bothering to leave her seat like a good hostess would.

Blue-gray eyes assessed the scene apathetically. Hel, if little Castiel wanted to go slum it up with the bottom feeders, Adam wasn't going to stand in her way - there were bigger mooses to worry about at the moment. Ryan was a later problem, unlike his brother.

"So. She gonna do it?" a curious voice asked from the shadowed shotgun seat of his Chavel. 'Cause _of course_ the trickster would know about his little gamble.

He knuckled the steering wheel to redirect his frustration from the mounting storm overhead. "If she ditches the leech, everything will be fine. Though, I doubt her mind is clear enough at the moment to think something so serious all the way through. Why do you ask… brother?"

"For a friend," Loki answered with a dopey smile that hadn't make an appearance since Sigyn. Oh no. He _knew_ that look.

"I don't think it is wise to involve yourself with a hunter; especially one tied to the Novaks." Loki looked at him sheepishly. " _You didn't_."

Loki sighed. "Thor-"

"No." Thor pressed a finger to his brother's lips to silence the rambling that was sure to come. "I'm worried about you, Loki, yes - but I also trust your judgement in most things. If you feel safe enough to claim a _hunter_ , she must be worth it. Just… use that thick head of your's. Father and I can't clean up all your messes, as much as I enjoy taking can of my little brother."

"You know I'm ol-"

Thor's eyes narrowed in challenge. " _Little. Brother_."

Loki gave him a bitch face, but melted into the seat in acceptance. " _Better than Dean would've taken it…_ " he breathed out, but the thunderer still caught it.

"No more talk of _him_ , yeah?"

Loki huffed, rocking his neck every which way to relieve the tension starting to build. He snorted. "Yeah. If we get lucky, somebody like Sara will answer Cas' summons." A beat. "Then again, when has my family ever been lucky?"

Thor groaned. "You just _had_ to jinx it!"

He pulled out of the parking lot in a squealing mess, as if trying to outrun the disaster that was now imminent. Loki laughed happily as he clutched the oh shit handle with one bulging arm. They rode that way for a while; fast and free, pop music flowing through the speakers.

"Feel like dicking over some demons?" the trickster asked, high on adrenaline and love.

Thor's lips curled into that oh-so-familiar sharp smile and lightning streaked above them. Oh yeah; he _definitely_ was in. "Only if I may inquire further into your new lady friend… Jess, was it?"

A punch was delivered to Thor's arm and their car suddenly revved up to something close to one-fifty as it thundered down the highway. And maybe, just for a while, Loki could outrun his demons and angels - he could just be another hunters with his brother, out to save the world as a two-man army. So he hid behind a facade behind a facade and for the night, it was Sam and Adam Winchester; hunters and nothing more.

.

The church was tired and worn, but she could still feel that little thrill race through her when the doors creaked open. It'd been years; the last time she had ventured in was the day her daddy told her it was time to grow out of fairy tales and make-believe. Nobody had some guardian standing just behind them for protection, there was no master plan, and _dammit Cassie, the is NO heaven!_ Her mama was gone, and that was that.

Gabriel somehow managed to keep his faith through it all. And oh how she _wished_ she knew her brother's secret. What was it that let him muscle on and pretend that nothing was wrong or missing or broken. Cassie almost despised him for it.

She shook her head - now was not the time for such ruminations. Sighing, boots dully thudded across the wood floor and to one of the pews. It creaked lowly and she rested her weight on it.

The familiar-but-not position washed over her. _Hands clasped, eyes closed, senses stretched to their limits, grasping at something…_ more.

"God, I know I lost the right to ask anything of you years ago, and I doubt you will anwer now, but please; save my brother. I've fallen and sinned and don't deserve your love, but Gabriel does. Help him. Amen."

She blinked her eyes open and idly reached for the leather Bible stuck in the seat next to her. It flopped open in her lap, the highlighted section giving her a little hope after all.

"Good verse, huh?" a gravelly voiced asked from across the pew. Cassie hadn't even realized there was another midnight sinner in the church. "Psalm 94:19." Her fellow gestured at the Word. "One of my little brother's favorites. _God_ , I don't know how he still believes that the Big Guy cares."

She raised an eyebrow. "And you don't think He does?"

"How can He with so much evil in the world? He could end it all with a snap of metaphorical fingers." The stranger was slouched over lazily, but she could tell sharp eyes were watching her every move.

She smirked, pulling a line Sam used whenever she felt hopeless and weak. "I subscribe to free will; _we_ make our choices, _we_ bare our consequences, we are _not_ dumbies on a string that dance along to some melody predestined from the get-go. Maybe God just took a step back to let us find our own way to Him."

He let out a barking laugh. "I like you, firecracker! Who knows; maybe you'll prove yourself right. I'm Dean, by the way."

A solemn nod was Cassie response as she settled into her seat and flipped through the Bible for any more inspiring lines.


	4. Matthew 16:28

**_Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. ~Matthew 16:28_**

 ** _._**

He's not sure where he is, but it's bright and windy and _too-quiet-where-is-all-the-screaming._ Dirt caked in layers he sure would never come out - a side-effect of literally crawling out of his grave. And dammit, Cassie, didn't he say give him a hunter's funeral?

Once his eyes adjusted, he could see the broken clearing that looked like some giant had used for belly-flopping practice. If it wasn't for the whole-ish feeling and the birds chirping somewhere in the distance, Gabriel would've thought this Alistair's latest and greatest torture.

He choked and gasped and dry-heaved when he tried to call out to whatever finally got around to saving his sorry butt - dehydration was a bitch. He need water, and some candy hopefully, and a ride so he could haul ass to Sioux Falls and find out what shitt-fest his well-meaning little sister had gotten into this time. 'Cause last time he checked, dead men don't get up and start breathing again in a perfectly fine body after _forty years_.

Jess. Jess and Bobby would know what to do. And if they didn't, they would have a contact that did. Maybe that Joshua guy or ol' Jimbo would know what to do. He had to get to Bobby's first, though.

One shaky foot in front of the other, Gabriel slowly traversed the clearing, the deserted highway beyond, and into an old, dusty gas stop that probably hadn't been open since the nineties. But that's okay; water and twinkies were practically the only things that didn't start rotting.

A box of sugar and two giant things of water later, Gabriel was looking at untamed hair and too-old eyes for the body they were set in. God, he hadn't aged a day. Cassie would be old by now - well, _older_ \- if she was even…

No. Sweet, oblivious, stuck in the fifteen hundreds Cassie wouldn't be dead. _Bet she bought a house next to Jess and got herself a boy-toy for company_ , he thought fondly, a little grin twitching at his lips. The hunter wondered what happened to Bobby's daughter and the mysterious guy she thought so fondly of. Sam, was it? Or was it John? He couldn't remember what name she had given him.

Thinking of his family strengthened his resolve to drive like a bat outta, well, _Hell_ so he could see them in the morning. Forty years was plenty long to spend apart.

As he was making his exit, stage left, a horrible shrieking started up, stabbing into his skull like a thousand little needles. Gabriel stumbled around blindly as something warm on coppery trickled down his neck. _Great._

Was this a new monster cropping up?

Just when he didn't think it could get any worse, a deep bass rattled the building, almost sounding scoulding of his other assailant. He would've thanked his hopefully savior if any thought or action could have make it past the white noise.

Something hot flashed across his upper arm and Gabriel _screamed_. It was a soul-weary cry only torn from the worst victims in Hell, astral pain given a physical form. He didn't think he had enough of a soul left to do that.

Quick as it came, the pain was gone. Gabriel was left a shaking mess, curled up small like _they_ like him, tears and snot and maybe a little drool left on his face. This _had_ to be a new torture method. Had he not done well enough on his last victim?

It melted away, though, when a pair of warm, strong arms wrapped around him like a father comforting a child that fell off a bike. They soothed his tired soul and he never in a million years would admit to leaning into them. Blinded by tears, Gabriel couldn't see the guy, but the old hymn his mother used to sing was loud and clear.

"I am truly sorry, my little charge, for I have not been here in your time of need." It was everything the hunter wished his father would do. "I shan't tarry too far from you and yours again."

Gabriel was too exhausted to even question the strange, paternal dude rocking back and forth on the floor of a dusty, beat-up gas station not an hour after coming back from the _dead_. So tired, in fact, that he didn't notice the thunder rumbling in the clear skies overhead or the jolly green giant watching, subdued, from a corner.

The last thing he saw before going under was two bright blue eyes and sandy hair.

Loki rose and eyebrow at the pile of leaky hunter and flustered archangel before him. "This puts a crimp in the 'incognito' plan."

"Shuddup, bitch. We'll just do what we do best: make shit up as we go along."

He crossed his arms with a light, sad smile. "Dunno, _Thor_ , think big bro's gonna finally open up the gates for a couple a' prodigal sons?"

.

Another plant was yanked from the ground with astounding force. Tending Uncle Bobby's tiny garden had always been a favorite past-time of her's, as well as getting her first pick of the rare herbs that come out of it. There wouldn't be any, however, if she didn't get the plant creeping into the soil taken care of.

Jess sighed from a few feet over. "How did we even _get_ wandering jew here? Isn't that pretty tropical?"

"Dunno." Cassie shrugged. "I thought it was, but the last few weeks have proved me wrong on that account."

A crunching sound behind them caused Jess to huff angrily and turn on their guest. "Ya know, you _could_ help instead of eating all my chips."

Dean blinked innocently with big, dewy eyes and gestured at the flimsy wrap around on of his wrists. "You gotta be kidding. Doc put me on house rest for my wrist, or did you miss that?"

Cassie valiantly tried to hide her snort.

"'Sides," Dean told her with a significant look at her leather cuff. "You've got the greenest thumb out of the group, Ms. Moore."

Teeth gnashed in a parody of a smile, the hunter threw a clod of earth at him. "Well at least enlighten us to your theory, as you so obviously have one."

That perked the younger woman right up. After all, a good theory might be just the distraction she needed after the failed summoning two weeks ago. She even pulled off her gloves in anticipation.

"Far as I can figure," he started nonchalantly, cheeks puffed with food, "This shit pops up in non-indigenous areas whenever the Wandering Jew spends any length of time in a joint."

"Wandering Jew?"

Jess snorted. "It's an old bedtime story my grammy used to tell the cousins and I. 'Bout as real as Big Foot, it you ask me."

Suddenly serious green eyes squinted at Jess before sliding to look at the smudge of dirt on excited Cassie's face softly. "Not a hoax, I'll tell you that. I met 'im years ago when he posed as some preacher man. I never stayed in touch, but the word on the grapevine is that he's hunting right now."

Cassie made a motion for them to stop. "Who the heck is the Wandering Jews?!"

Jess sighed, rubbing her forehead with the back of her hand and she sat on her heels. "There's this legend that a jew taunted Jesus on his way to crucifixion and was cursed by God to walk the Earth until Revelations for his sins. That he wanders from place to place, looking for peace."

Her mind whirled a thousand miles a minute as she recalled the old legend and fit it to what she knew. A man posing as a preacher-turned-hunter, the plants in the garden, Winchester's meandering tendencies. _The fact he told her two nights ago he would give up hunting if only humanity could be left to their tranquility_. Oh yeah; she knew exactly who the Wandering Jew was pretending to be.

"Sam Winchester - gotta be."

Dean's eyes widened comically. "Did you say Sammy?"

Jess nodded, confused, waiting for Cassie's new boy toy to stop spacing out and answer her. 'Just Dean' didn't elaborate, however, and instead sunk to his knees, hissing in pain. Thunder rolled over head as a cold breeze swept through the yard.

Cassie threw her tools to the ground and sprinted towards him. "Dean!"

He waved her off, pinching his nose to alleviate mounting tension. "'M fine, sweet cheeks, just a headache. Think I'll leave you two lovely ladies to it and take a nap."

Cassie worriedly helped him in, leaving a scowling Jess behind. Something was fishy - Dean claimed to have known the Wandering Jew, but acted surprised at the name Sam Winchester. No, at the name Sam specifically. _Sammy_. And now, she had to wait for Cassie to stop mother-henning the jerk to get some answers.

Car doors slammed shut on the front drip, but Rummy didn't start his ceremonial barking. Shot gun in hand, she turned the corner -


End file.
